Why isn't Colin Farrell playing Bruce? - The Batman (2022) Discussion

[–] kwestmo (4385) 3 years ago

Farrell is way too old to play a rookie Batman is one good reason. For a film version of The Dark Knight Returns he would be awesome.

reply

[–] TroyB (164) 3 years ago

Then they should've went with that instead. We really don't need another origin story retold yet again.

reply

[–] HarlemEagle42 (17734) 3 years ago

Probably not. Not sure why every time they recast a part, it has to be an origin story. I'm not against a simple flashback in the second act like in the first Burton film.

reply

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 3 years ago

We've never had a Year 2 story.

reply

[–] HarlemEagle42 (17734) 3 years ago

He's not particularly good playing the hero. He's bland in those roles. He's much better off playing roguish weirdos and villains.

reply

[–] Jones70 (6534) 3 years ago

Did you like Phone Booth, Tigerland and Cassandra’s Dream?

reply

[–] HarlemEagle42 (17734) 3 years ago

Only saw Phone Booth. I liked it but not for Farrell, more for its premise and Kiefer Sutherland was a great villain.

reply

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 3 years ago

He did great as a tortured anti-hero in True Detective S2...which you can definitely film Batman as lol

reply

[–] contreras (470) 3 years ago

You can't see his eyebrows with the costume. It would be a waste.

reply

[–] HarlemEagle42 (17734) 3 years ago

They must love his take on Penguin. He's getting a spinoff series on HBO Max.

reply

[–] filmgeek99 (657) 3 years ago

Yeah, the entire cast sounds as though they've been chosen because "Whoa! I didn't see that coming!" It feels like Matt Reeves is purposely trying to subvert fans' expectations by choosing actors as far off from who'd you imagine would normally get the part. Pattinson MIGHT make a great Batman, but personally, I'm not sold on his performance from either of the two trailers yet (his punching of the glass pane was embarrassing). Andy Serkis, Colin Farrell, and John Turturro are unconventional picks, to say the least. The only two that felt like natural choices, were Zoe Kravitz and Paul Dano (Jeffrey Wright is fine too, I guess).

Overall, I'm not quite pumped for this yet because of the aforementioned questionable choices. I think people are just getting tricked into thinking this looks awesome because "Ooooooooooh, it's so dark!"

reply

[–] moviefanatic505 (6094) 3 years ago

Matt Reeves previous film work on Let Me In, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the planet of the apes showcase he is a great director to take on this character.

reply

[–] filmgeek99 (657) 3 years ago

And? That doesn't mean he'll necessarily knock it out of the park this time. Besides, it's not like Matt Reeves is one of the all-time greats or anything. Rian Johnson had a similar repertoire to Reeves prior to making The Last Jedi, look what happened. LOL

reply

[–] moviefanatic505 (6094) 3 years ago

It is better than when they get a yes man director for hire to pump something out for the studio big heads. Cough cough Batman Vs Superman Dawn of the Justice. Also Rian Johnson's scenario was not even remotely close to the same. Rian Johnson was tasked with making a sequel to the Force Awakens. That foundation was difficult to follow up and the reason being is because it was basically fan fiction. Safe, marketable with little to no originality and loaded with mystery boxes which had no real answers. I do not care who you brought in following up on a bland foundation is a tough task. Had Rian Johnson been there to make the first film you would have a point here but he was not. Matt Reeves's Batman is starting completely from scratch. Does it guarantee the movie will be good? Nope but we are in better hands and have much higher chance at success than when BVS Dawn of Justice was being made.

reply

[–] filmgeek99 (657) 3 years ago

Zack Snyder, a director-for-hire? What the hell are you talking about? Snyder was most definitely the main creative force behind BvS. Say what you will about his films, but he at least calls the shots and makes the kind of movies he wants. If you want to talk about yes men, Jon Watts and the Russo brothers deserve to be called out much more.

And just 'cause Johnson was tasked with making a sequel, doesn't mean he necessarily had to fuck it up. There are a bunch of ways he could've continued the plot threads JJ set up to hold more of an impact, but instead, he decided to be all contrarian and edgy just to "subvert expectations". That's the vibe I'm getting from Matt Reeves from this new Batman so far, it feels like he's making a lot of these radical decisions just to "subvert expectations" as well. I hope for him though, that it pays off more.

reply

[–] moviefanatic505 (6094) 3 years ago

Man of Steel and BVS are reactionary films. They have producers fingerprints all over them. When Man of Steel went into production it was before The Dark Knight Rises had happened. Notice the highest grossing superhero film at that point was The Dark Knight. So what do the producers do? They look and go oh okay dark, realistic and gritty worked for Batman so lets apply that to Superman. One size fits all type mentality. Difference is Batman and Superman are vastly different characters. They needed it to look and feel like TDK trilogy that is why Nolan's name was plastered all over the trailers and posters. Okay so it comes out and it is a bland film. What was the highest grossing superhero film after The Dark Knight?

The Avengers was what finally brought TDK in terms of box office to it's knees. So then after Man of Steel they see oh okay the team up thing is what is hot. So they then rush to get out BVS Dawn of Justice. Basically it was their attempt at setting up Avengers. You had the trio of Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman plus Easter eggs of a bunch of other dc characters. See the films always tried to emulate what was popular at the time. You really think all of this was Snyder's idea? The producers had a hand in this as well.

See the issue is JJ laid out a bad foundation as I said before. It was a fan fiction version of a new hope. Whenever you make a fanfiction version of something it is harder to leave your own mark. So here is the question is it better to play it completely safe and take no risks which is what JJ Abrams did for Force Awakens or subvert expectations just for the sake of it which is what you claim Rian Johnson did. I also do not believe Reeves is doing this, I think a lot of these are inspired choices. Pattinson did great work in the Lighthouse and Good Time. Good Time shows he is a great pick for such a mentally disturbed character.

reply

[–] TroyB (164) 3 years ago

I'm not sold on the new Batman trailer as well since I think Rob Pattinson wouldn't do it justice as the Caped Crusader. But we'll see when the time comes.

reply

[–] filmgeek99 (657) 3 years ago

Okay, but how does that prove that Snyder wasn't the one mainly in charge of the DCEU films he directed? Just 'cause the suits at Warner Bros. took some notes from Marvel after seeing how much cash they managed to rack up with The Avengers, doesn't prove that Zack wasn't in charge of those films. If anything, the fact that Batman v Superman and the Snyder cut of Justice League remained as dark as they were, is a testament to how much creative control Snyder actually had. If he really was just bending over for the studio, wouldn't they probably be more light-hearted and jokey like the Marvel films?

And sorry, but I'd have to disagree with you on Matt Reeves' choices in regards to the casting of the film. I believed in Pattinson when I first heard the news after seeing Good Time, but from what I've seen in the trailers so far, he just isn't doing it for me. His costume is badass and his voice is okay, but he hasn't sold me on the intimidation factor yet (punching a glass pane and not even leaving a crack while mumbling your lines isn't intimidating). The other choices, as previously mentioned, are unconventional, to say the least. Not saying they won't work, as we'll have to see the finished film to decide on that, but like Pattinson, Farrell just doesn't exude the essence of the Penguin from what I've seen so far. It feels like he's just playing a generic Italian mob boss, with none of the Britishness or snobby elitism of the Penguin from the comics (for as different as his characterization was, Danny DeVito at least looked the part). Again, not saying for sure that it's bad, but so far, it isn't working for me.

reply

[–] moviefanatic505 (6094) 3 years ago

Quite simple really. Man of Steel feels so produced it barely feels like Snyder had a voice in it. Well okay he had a voice in the fact that it is dark and dreary which is a tone he likes. However look at Man of Steel it's product placement is ham-fisted as well as it's symbolism. Did you see the theatrical cut of Justice League? They did change it to being lighthearted and jokey you see the flash scenes? The banter back and forth between Batman and Wonder Woman? Why was Joss Whedon brought on to re edit the film once Zack left? Perhaps because he is the director behind the Avengers? There were two issues one the studios should not have picked Snyder to direct Superman. Who in their right mind thought his style would fit Superman? It is easy to see why Nolan was picked for Batman. He is super psychological, realistic and is a good writer. Memento is a good reason to see why Nolan was chosen for Batman. Nothing in Snyder's filmography suggests he would be a good fit for Superman.

I disagree with you also about the trailer. I feel the shot of him walking towards Penguin is done quite well and showcases Batman's presence. It does not matter if Penguin is like the comic book version of Penguin, what matters is if the character is good. Pfieffer's Catwoman story arch was not like Selina Kyle's typical storyline in the comics but she ended up being an iconic Catwoman nonetheless. I personally have loved what I have seen of Penguin so far. So I am afraid we will have to agree to disagree.

reply

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 3 years ago

You've made a number of excellent observations and analyses here in this thread. Bravo

reply

[–] moviefanatic505 (6094) 3 years ago

Thank you. I'm a huge Batman fan. In my book the best superhero bar none.

reply

[–] amerikasend (2) 3 years ago

Those Planet of the Apes movies were horrible remakes of the crappy Plant of the Apes movies from the 70s. You must be easily impressed by CGI.

The Batman movie looks like complete garbage and a bloated mess. Batman can't take being shot at pointblank range and not be affected whatsoever. The trailer shows some bad guy shooting Batman at pointblank range and it barely affects him. Then it shows some bad guys unloading automatics rifles from practically pointblank range and Batman just walks through it like it ain't no thing. Batman is not Superman, nor is he Iron Man. The Batsuit doesn't make him impervious to injuries and harm. The bad guys who want Batman dead are apparently dumb dumbs and don't think to shoot him in the face. This is problematic since the main villains for this new trilogy wouldn't be so dumb and would shoot him in the face. This really shouldn't be hard to understand that Batman is not invincible and the bad guys aren't complete imbeciles, but I guess Matt Reeves didn't get the memo. The punching the glass scene was hilarious and embarrassing.

reply

[–] moviefanatic505 (6094) 3 years ago

The Planet of the apes movies were excellent, and nope I am impressed by good storytelling. So long as cgi is in service to the story that is compelling then I am impressed.

Who says he is not affected at all? Batman got shot in the other movies as well. The suit needs to be rather tough and is built to protect him. Are the villains in the previous films dumb because they did not think to shoot him in the face?

reply

[–] actionkamen (23176) 3 years ago

Well if the villains shot him in the face he will die. The end.

That's just movies being movies. It's all because Batman costume was designed with a mouth opening in the 40s. It was not well tought out but it was iconic so no one is going to change the design.

reply